Negotiating Morphology on the Olympic Site

Lund UniversityUrban Dynamics TheoryFall 2009

By Carley Friesen

Negotiating Morphology on the Olympic SiteThis essay is an attempt to further discuss the environmental and cultural sustainability aspects of the proposed urban design for the Olympic site in Beijing, China.

The sustainable considerations for urban design on the Olympic site are complex. Readings about China and its urbanization can only give a brief glimpse into an urbanization situation that is seemingly impossible to comprehend. The main issue for my project was social and cultural sustainability, and how these relate to environmental sustainability. The proposal, Negotiating Morphology, focuses on four key lenses to view sustainability. Materials, Community, Negotiation, and Beauty, are the four topics that this essay will discuss in relation to sustainable urban design. There will then be a discussion about the importance of sustainable urban design to retain itself as an art form, and to create beauty and poetry even at design of this magnitude.

Materials Materials have a complex set of equations when it comes to measuring their sustainability. After the group work, which was composed of discussion and analysis of statistics, it was clear that many materials, especially todays more high technology materials, have a high input energy during their extraction, processing and transportation. It became clear that conserving and re-using materials is very important to sustainability especially in design. Knowing when materials should be replaced or maintained and finding construction techniques which allow materials to be de-assembled and re-used is very important. It is also important for materials to be used to their full potential. Often we find incredibly durable materials being used as decoration, or for temporary structure, and this is harmful because of input energies

being abused, and qualities of the material being ignored. The Turenscape bigfoot approach means that materials will be chosen in a way that is appropriate and efficient for the task at hand. One example of where the small foot approach exists on the Olympic site is where small patches of grass have been placed around the Birds Nest, then fenced and given signage prohibiting use. The material of grass is only an aesthetic symbol, without actually supporting the ecological or social fabric of the site. The material has not been used to its full potential. In Negotiating Morphology the project re-uses materials to monument the Olympic site, and to create a series of similar public spaces throughout the urban fabric. The introduced public squares feature paving from existing areas of the Olympic site (which are proposed to be built upon) and in this way act as a monument to the site. There is a series of 9 squares on the site, and this number also relates to Chinese history, with 9 as a significant cultural number. These public squares will be heavily used by the community, and therefor the high-quality paving materials can be used to their full potential.

Community Community and Public Space During the study trip in China, I realized the importance that public life and public space have to the people. It seemed, however, that many residential areas have a lack of public space, or that the public space is mostly in large, monumental parks, rather than in smaller, community areas. The goal for this project

1

was to provide this type of everyday public space, one that can be used spontaneously, rather than solely for planned events. I was inspired by many photographs in articles we read, specifically in the article The Art of Survival by Kongjian Yu from Turenscape. The photograph is of a young woman who has migrated to the city, and left family and friends behind. The desire is that the new public space serves as a meeting point, and also a place where people can have a time of peace and quiet in the busy city. The method to create community oriented public space is further discussed in the section, Negotiation.

Community and Scale The overall concept for the Olympic site was to dedicate the site to a daily life area. In The Green Imperative, by Victor Papanek there is a discussion of natures magic numbers, that is, numbers that come from natural systems, such as basing measurements on the body. A collection of studies on human settlement (Ekistiks) reveals that most settlements have a core based on a 10 minute walking town, or about a 760 m radius (Papanek, 111). Papanek goes on to discuss ideal community sizes based on populations. Studies from North American to Amazonian Indian groups, hunting groups and tribes shows an ideal number of residents falling between 400-600. This is further exemplified in modern community planning, where elementary schools in the U.S.A are organized with 500 student in one building. The same is true with modern business planning, which says that business groups are at an ideal size at 500 and they begin to fall apart when the group exceeds 750.

These and other studies on community revealed a variety of factors which can be viewed as the ideal community. Among them are population, land area, density, mix, etc. In Negotiating Morphology the project uses ideal community size based on walkability. This is important for a sustainable community, and very important as a model in Beijing, a spreading city currently defined by high traffic rates, and costly traffic infrastructure. The radius of 760m was set onto the site, relating to existing edge conditions. In brief, the circles were adjusted, and then the places of overlap were used to create lines of concentration for urban activities. This is were vital urban functions such as high-density development and ecological areas would be located. They are the most accessible places on the site.

Community and Urban Life The desire was to achieve a mixture of necessary activities within the walking distance. The three focuses where housing, urbanity, and ecology (organized) along the lines described above). With these three factors within each walkable community, the area becomes a true mixed use, and a truly walkable day-to-day community. Beijing today has major transportation problems, and focuses on the car as being a status symbol. Their population is too high to support a road infrastructure for all of the inhabitants, and therefor, organizing the city around a walking distance is not just a sustainable move; it is critical. The choice for this combination was influenced by readings from The Life Region: The Social and

Sketch Book Image 1Walkable community radius and lines of concentration:Environmental sustainability

Sketch Book Image 2The effect of negotiation on the typical Beijing block:Environmental sustainability

2

Cultural Ecology of Sustainable Development edited by Per Rberg. He creates a discussion to promote balance between the global and local in a community, saying a modern social life must realize that the two complement each other. He describes a situation which could enhance the public sphere and give more control to its citizens. This means a policy which identifies with the civic level and is prepared to take a comprehensive responsibility for the well-being of citizens (Rberg, 296). This leads into the next title, Negotiation, which will describe the negotiant process for creating public space; a public space which rejects large scale, monumental spaces, for space managed, and scaled for every-day life.

Negotiation In order to create the concentrations previously described, negotiation was used. In readings the project was inspired by the ideas of chaos and incompleteness. In a city which changing and growing as quickly as Beijing, it is obvious how this unfinished design can complement the urban fabric. A more flexible urban structure can adapt to changes in population and economy without ever crashing, or experiencing severe stresses and is therefor sustainable over a long period of time. It is also important in uncertain times to create a design which does not depend too much on completeness, that is to say, a design which will still create good spaces even when it is under construction. Susannah Hagan relates architecture to chaos in natural systems in Taking Shape. She describes how natural systems may appear chaotic, however, actually

have a very complex underlying system. In this project, the definition of negotiation comes from her statement, This is the new balance of nature; not a fixed and stable entity, in which order dominates disorder, but an interlocking series of dynamic systems in which order and disorder pull at each other continuously (Hagan 36). A set of rules have been created for the site, however, using negotiation these rules become flexible and adaptable to each special condition of the site and the developers and residents desires. In this way the site functions as an ecosystem, with a series of maneuvers, rather than a strict guide. This discussion is brought more into a design focus in Richard Sennetts, The Open City. He discusses the critical attribute for urban design to adapt and flex with its social, economic and environmental surroundings. He describes a quality of design called incomplete form, ...may seem the enemy of structure, but this is not the case. The designer needs to create physical forms of a particular sort, incomplete in a special way (Sennet 294). He goes on to discuss democratic space and declares that it can rise out of an open system, one focused on citizenship and issues of participation which have everything to do with the physical city and its design (Sennett 296). In order to create a truly mixed neighbourhood, each block has a certain degree of autonomy within itself. (This is in contrast to typical Beijing blocks which usually feature one morphology, often mid-rise super block housing, and relies on surrounding blocks to provide other services.) This mixture (housing, urbanity, ecology) provides some of the qualities of adaptation, and ensures quality of each block so that the

Sketch Book Image 3Ability to adapt to use : Cultural sustainability

Sketch Book Image 4Negotiation and the creation of the Public Space Factor:Social sustainability

3

entire site does not have to be finished before people can live comfortable lives there. This mixture within the block was also influenced by readings from, Design for High-Intensity Development, a reader composed of articles from around the world on dense urban situations. Tay Kheng Soon discusses pace in the modern city, and how it is culturally and spatially significant. He emphasizes cultures ability to enforce a slower pace, one with care and allowing evolvement over time. He points out that globalized cities, without so much consideration for cultural context are often enveloped in faster is better. He goes so far as to link pace with the scale of materials, and points out that finely scaled and ornamental architecture is the product of time. In this project, three paces have been created, in parallel to the three main morphologies or concentrations (housing, urbanity, ecology). The intent is to say that each pace has a place in the modern urban life, however, that residents can choose to spend time in the pace most suitable to their activities. The public space introduced in the area should provide a personal area, and pace and size suitable to it. Victor Papanek quotes studies of human interaction measurements which can influence the scale of public spaces. Measures of eyesight and identification (for example, 15 m to identify facial expressions, 135 m to identify body type and gender, and 300 m is too far to make identifications) are tools that can be used to create intimate spaces (Papanek 111). Pace, however, also influences the intimacy of spaces. Tay Kheng Soon discusses the effect of pace on manners and courtesies. He links scale to pace and in-turn to intimacy. When these factors are combined we

begin to understand the morphology of urban design, and the way this identity influences behavior in space. Each concentration (housing, urbanity and ecology) is then further associated with a different pace, to give it a strong identity. Negotiation also became the tool to provide adequate amounts of high-quality public space. The program allows developers to stretch the rules of development on their lots, in exchange for a contribution to the public space factor. For example, if a developer wants to add extra height to their building it can be allowed in exchange for the creation of a pocket park within the building. This is called the public space factor and is the main negotiant force on the site. This will create variety in the types of public spaces created, and will develop a public space fabric, as discussed in the Community and Public Space section above.

Negotiation and Morphology To achieve a bigfoot approach, one suitable to the needs of the site and the requirements of residents and users, the term morphology was used to describe the construction on the site. Michael Weinstock describes morphology in design in an article written for Architectural Digest. He creates a good working definition for morphology, and states the benefits for designers thinking in this ecosystemic approach. ...performance and behavior can be inputs to the process of design rather than functions applied later to a form...the morphology of living forms, their relation to each other which drives self-organization of population and ecological systems (Weinstock).

Sketch Book Image 5Morphology of development at river landscape:Environmental meets Cultural sustainability

Sketch Book Image 6 Morphology of development at mountain landscape: Environmental meets Cultural sustainability

4

Combining this point along with an ecological systems approach strengthens the idea of concentration, and having networks (housing, urbanity, ecology) of concentration through the area. Explicitly, this is applied to the green space on the site, which connects to larger green structure to the north and south, and contains a dense, ecological corridor in its centre, more for ecology use, than for tourism. The edge of the green network is the urban green, used for human leisure. Implicitly, the idea of morphology is used in creating the rules for the identities of the area. Based on the identity of a block, and then the rules of negotiation and the public space factor, the buildings will begin to take on a form, related to their program, site location, and public space factor contributions. There will, therefor, be a cohesive network identity, while at the same time the urban fabric is changing and morphing to suit the functions of everyday life.

Beauty and Poetry Using the bigfoot approach does not mean creating a measurably utilitarian area. Instead it recognizes that beauty in the everyday as an important part of creating a sustainable neighbourhood. Here, again, it is important to note that the public space created is of high quality, not just of large quantity. This large quantity is described in articles from The Concrete Dragon where advances are measured in scale rather than in quality of life. During the lecture from Bert de Muynck we heard that there are many buildings in China which despite only being 10 years old, already look as though they were constructed in the early seventies. By ensuring quality in the proposed

neighbourhood, and ensuring developer responsibility and participation in the process, the area will become more beautiful, and encourage residents to also participate in forming and using the space.

Conclusion The task for this studio was to create sustainable urban design on the Olympic site in Beijing. Considering cultural context, modern environmental concerns, and social sustainability were key factors for the challenge. This project achieves social sustainability by providing high-quality, adequate amounts of public space to the residents. The overall layout of the site creates walkable distances, encouraging a safe, community atmosphere. By using the method of negotiation, the site can adapt to changes in demands and values, and remain current over time. Considering ecological patterns, the design re-introduces a strong green ecology to the site, while providing urban green for the overall public health of the area. Sustainable thinking in urban design effects environmental quality; and in turn creates high-quality urban lifestyles.

Sketch Book Image 6Quote from Alain de Button, in The Architecture of Happiness:Social sustainability and sustainabledesign practice

5

Sources

de Button, Alain. The Architecture of Happiness.

Campanella, Thomas J. The Concrete Dragon.

Forman, Richard; Godron, Michel. Landscape Ecology.

Hagan, Susannah. Taking Shape.

Kheng, Soon, Tay. The Tropical City. Design for High-Intensity Development.

Kongjian, Yu. The Art of Survival.

Papanek, Victor. The Green Imperative.

Rberg, Per. Social Life and the Living Region. The Life Region.

Sennett, Richard. The Open City.

Weinstock, Michael. Morphology and Metabolism. Architectural Digest Magazine.